The issue of abortion has a history of becoming polarizing….difficult to have conversations about… because it’s often reduced to slogans and simplistic assumptions about “the other side.” One side views the other as having no convictions, and the other side views the opponents as having no compassion.

The issue of Christian involvement in politics has been one of the most debated and divisive issues not only of our time but throughout much of history; as we are told, if one wants to maintain relationships… never talk about religion and politics.

The new spirituality I’m referring to is reflected in countless popular books and teachers that have arisen over the recent 25 to 30 years … sharing perspectives on spiritual reality that tend to draw upon a more eastern worldview and esoteric mysticism that only feels new to westerners.

Jesus never asked His disciples to remember His birth. But He did instruct them to remember His death and resurrection. He gave us two visible symbols and actions as expressions of this death and new life we share in. These two ordinances are: Baptism and Communion.

Today there are many calls for revival or special moves of God. Most reflect a hunger for a greater experience of God and many come from a sense of prophetic prompting. What is our own sense of similar hunger or response to such potential?

At appropriate times we enjoy extending open invitations for God's Spirit to come and minister to us as His people. We recognize that some may be less familiar with this "charismatic" aspect of ministry and that all of us would benefit from a shared perspective. The following is offered as the basis and principles by which we enjoy such ministry together.

We recognize that more couples are choosing to live together either before marriage or even as a long term alternative to marriage. We also recognize that the reasons vary... With such a diversity of underlying circumstances and reasons, we do not carry any negative assumptions about the hearts and motives involved...Our desire is to speak God’s heart and mind into the unique dynamics involved in your choice.

Certainly for all of us, one of the basic values that is confronted when we become a follower of Christ concerns our view of giving. Very simply, most of the world treats giving as a social obligation which can easily be resented or relegated as a luxury for the rich. Yet when we come to God’s Word we see something very different.

Fasting as a spiritual discipline provides a powerful means of SPIRITUAL DECLARATION by DEDICATING US TO THE BATTLES OF THE SPIRIT...

...Martin Luther King spoke of “the power of unearned suffering,” and our need to take a stand against evil through civil disobedience. In a similar way, fasting can be a declaration of our dependency on God against the powers of evil… civil disobedience in the spiritual realm.